A Step towards Employability
"Through social entrepreneurship, the social protection beneficiaries, from recipients of rights and services, get an active role and ensure existence for themselves and their families"
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When she finishes all the chores around the house and farm, Vesna Duljić from Miloševac near Laktaši finds rest for her soul in her creative corner, where she uses the decoupage technique to make souvenirs and gifts suitable for various occasions. She gained knowledge at workshops organized through the project "A Step towards Employability" of the Centre for Social Work and the Centre for Children, Youth and Family Laktaši. At the workshops, 30 women from Laktaši and the surrounding area had the opportunity to acquire knowledge that will enable them to use their creativity in making souvenirs and soaps to provide income for their families.
"I used to work in bookkeeping, but living in the countryside has many responsibilities, so I couldn't continue. When I stopped going to work, I was depressed and withdrawn for a while, but after I was invited to the workshops, the smile returned to my life. I got the opportunity to socialize with women and to exchange experiences, to learn new skills and to express myself creatively", Vesna tells us, who, after the experience of the workshops at the Centre, equipped herself with a creative corner at home where, she says, she rests her soul, after she is done with all her duties.
"When I feel the need, I go to my corner, a space for myself, work and hum. I am happy when the object I worked on, a gift for a birthday, wedding, or other occasion, reaches those it is intended for. Each item is unique and a lot of effort and love has been put into it," she tells us, proudly showing the first thing she made at the workshop - a set of coasters in a decorative box.
Contracts on the purchase of products were signed with the eight most successful workshop participants, so that their works will also be found on the shelves of the gift shop in the centre of Laktaši.
"Besides discovering my creative side, participating in the project gave me the opportunity to produce and market what I produce, to provide myself with additional means for livelihood and education of my children. The oldest daughter is studying at the university, one son is in the second grade of secondary school, and the youngest is in the sixth grade of primary school," says Vesna, adding that she hopes that in the near future she will have the opportunity to work together with her daughter - a student of graphic design.
"Now she is in her second year of studies, I hope that one day we will combine ideas, and who knows, maybe have a creative studio - imagination and creativity have no limits".
The workshops were also attended by Biljana Braunović from Slatina near Laktaši, who mastered the skills of making decorative soaps. She points out that in addition to the fact that each soap is unique and handmade, it is especially important that the soaps do not contain harmful ingredients, are completely safe for use and do not pollute the environment.
"When you are in the company of other women who share the same interest, and positive lecturers, then it develops into much more than just making soap. There was a positive energy during the workshops, which can be seen in the objects made. The training we received is also important, especially for getting to know how to handle the ingredients from which the soaps are made," she says, adding that her experience from the workshops is useful and encouraging:
"I was thinking of starting to do something similar, and the project strengthened this idea of mine and encouraged me to start working at home. By profession, I am a teacher of Serbian language and literature, currently without a job in the profession, but the acquired knowledge has given me the opportunity to start a business and maintain my livelihood, while at the same time I can spend time with my children. I plan to make this not only a hobby, but also a way to start a business that will contribute to the household budget".
Biljana says that it is especially important to her that during the workshops, her children and those of the other participants had the opportunity to participate in the preschool education programme organized at the Centre:
"That was especially relaxing, especially when you know the child is close by where you can always jump in, unless you're in the process of pouring the soap. That there is someone who takes care of the child, you can even hear what is happening in the next room."
Milijana Jaćimović, a social worker at CSW Laktaši and coordinator of the working group for social entrepreneurship and integrated case management in Laktaši, says that the goal of the project activities was to reduce the harmful consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had the greatest impact on the most vulnerable categories of the population:
"We are proud of the results achieved, as well as of the beneficiaries who found themselves in the project, and through the activities they were empowered and motivated to become active and take some actions and to get a job themselves. We have an example of a beneficiary who, after being unemployed for 20 years, has now found employment for the first time. The women who met and connected through these activities developed new friendships, thoughts and ideas about association in order to continue to work independently and carry out the activities that started with us", says Milijana, pointing out that social entrepreneurship is a significant and irreplaceable factor in the social protection of every country:
"Through social entrepreneurship, the social protection beneficiaries, from the passive role of receiving rights and services from the system, get an active and central role in which they ensure existence for themselves and their families, and the social protection system helps to make this social service available to them. As a social protection professional, I would also like to point out that this project has established steps for cooperation with the Employment Institute, various associations at the local level and the Tourist Organization, so that the Centre for Social Work is now getting many more opportunities in its daily work and providing support and care to its beneficiaries.”
Vanja Ilić, executive director of the Centre for Children, Youth and Family in Laktaši, says that the project activities build on previous activities and round them off:
"Some of the beneficiaries of the project were mothers of children who attend our programmes, so they also got the opportunity to get empowered, to be recognized. Through the project, we ourselves were supposed to learn what social entrepreneurship is. The response was very good, women are interested, and concrete results can be linked to the qualitative analysis that was done at the level of the local community, through which we identified needs and strengths, as well as the target group we want to work with," says Vanja Ilić, adding that the cooperation established through the project will definitely be continued:
"We have established more functional cooperation at the level of the local community between the actors-signatories of the Protocol on Cooperation, and we are already planning some workshops in cooperation with the Employment Institute and the Centre for Social Work, so that with the completion of this project we will certainly not put an end to what we have started”.
"A Step towards Employability" was jointly implemented by the Centre for Social Work and the Centre for Children, Youth and Family Laktaši, as well as the city administration and the tourist organization of the city, and was supported through the project "Strengthening social and health protection in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in BiH " which made it possible to strengthen sustainable institutional support for the most vulnerable groups of social protection beneficiaries. The project is implemented by UNICEF BiH through a partnership with the Union of Social Workers of the Federation of BiH and the Union of Associations of Professional Social Workers from the RS with the financial support of USAID.
